Hamilton, who took the overall lead from title-rival Vettel after leading Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas to a one-two finish at Monza, is expecting a less straightforward weekend in Singapore.

The tight twists of the circuit are expected to play to Ferrari’s strengths, with the Italian outfit dominant at similar layouts in Monaco and Hungary earlier in the year. Red Bull is also hoping the circuit masks the power deficiencies of its Tag Heuer-badged Renault engine.

In the frame

Although the opening session was held in daylight, in contrast to the floodlit conditions the drivers will face during the rest of the weekend, Ricciardo’s pace appear to put Red Bull in the frame for victory.

Sergio Perez was fifth-fastest for Force India, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who agreed a one-year extension to his Mercedes contract in the build up to the weekend.

Kimi Raikkonen was seventh in his Ferrari, ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose McLaren outfit has been in the spotlight this week after the team confirmed on Friday that it would be splitting with power-unit supplier Honda at the end of the 2017 season.

Nico Hulkenberg was ninth for Renault ahead of Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat in 10th. Kyvat's team-mate Carlos Sainz, expected to head off to Renault for 2018 as part of the complex engine saga, sat out the session, handing his car to Formula 2 racer Sean Gelael, who was 18th, 3.3 seconds off Kvyat’s pace.

The 90-minute session was uneventful apart from a few lock-ups from drivers as they got to grips with the track